Above: David Nettemeyer heads the ball
into the net, tying the game at 1-1 with just over 8 minutes to play.

Nettemeyer
Strikes Again, but Warriors can't hold off Mitty. 1/19

For a soccer player to have
4 goals in 5 games is far from weird. For the player to have never
scored before this season will raise some eyebrows. For that
player to be a defender is just plain unheard of. Senior defender,
David Nettemeyer is that player.
In his past 5 games, he has found the net 4 times. His 4 league
goals put him only behind Jeff Coggan for
the team lead.

Today was a battle.
An extremely tough defending CCS Champion Mitty team that beat
Bellarmine and had three players returning from injury, was looking to
crush VC.

The game started off well,
with VC trading opportunities with Mitty. The referee seemed to have a
little trouble finding his rhythm as he handed out 5 first half yellow
cards. The game was rough, but not that rough. Yellow cards are
one thing, but giving away goals is a tough thing to accept.

In the 21st minute, Mitty's
defender dribbled up the field and into the VC box. As he went to
hit a left-footed shot, he missed the ball and fell. The referee
blew his whistle and pointed to the spot. The Mitty player barely
beat Ben Hansen to his left and the game
had it's first goal, albeit a cheesy one. 1-0 Mitty.

The Warriors would not give
in, having chance after chance just miss. At halftime the team was
chomping at the bit to get back out there. The momentum was in
VC's favor and they had an uphill climb.

Mitty came out strong as
ever, but VC matched their intensity. The game would stay 1-0
until the 72nd minute when VC won a free kick at the midfield stripe.
Ben Hansen came up to take the kick and lofted a perfect, 60 yard pass
that David Nettemeyer won. The initial shot hit the cross bar, but
Nettemeyer fearlessly lunged at the ball heading it in. 1-1 with 8
minutes to play.

The Warriors would not be
satisfied. In the last 8 minutes both
Joey Stryker and Jeff Coggan had sizzling shots go just wide. The
chances were there for the victory. With just over a minute left
in regulation, bad fortune reared it's ugly head.

A foul at the top of the
box left the Warriors scrambling to assemble a 5-man wall. Mitty's
Corey Bowman hit a great free-kick to the left of the wall that somehow
weaved it's way through traffic and into the net, past a diving Ben
Hansen. 2-1 Mitty.

The game would end that
way. An absolute thriller of a game to watch. Afterwards, the
coaches had this to say.

"I love our kids man.
They gave everything they had. We came out like we had nothing to lose
and we should've won that game!" Aleks Vranicic
said afterwards.

Assistant coach
John Basanese concluded with
this. "It's a tough game. I feel like we were cheated a little
bit, but that's soccer. Amazingly the kids didn't let it get to
them. We were the better team today, I honestly believe that.
That's saying a lot because I have great respect for that Mitty team,
they are an incredible side... We've got our work cut out and we know
it. I'll take these kids into battle with me any day.
Nettemeyer has so much heart, it makes me very proud."

As Basanese said, there is
much to be done still. The Warriors travel to USF to play Sacred
Heart Cathedral on Saturday. The Irish are a great team, despite their
record, who's given the VC varsity fits in the past.

"We have a lot of respect
for the coaching staff at SHC, we know they'll be ready!" Basanese
added.

If you can't make it out to
the game, check back at the website for updates.